What a past few weeks it has been! Settling back into Boulder and college has been a whirlwind and I am overall so happy with everything that is going on and am beyond stoked for what the future holds. I have some super exciting plans coming up ahead amidst the classes I am taking and am loving the present moment as well. The highlight of the past week has been going on a hot air balloon! It was beyond anything I had every imagined.
This has always been one of my favourite times of the year since as long as I can remember. The excitement of a new year, almost more important than the January 1st celebration. It comes with reuniting with friends, new inspiration and a fresh start for everyone. I also know that eventually this cycle will end when I finish school (will that actually ever happen? I love school and learning so much, that regardless if I am in a classroom I will forever be curious and learning something new).
I couldn’t be more excited to end the conclusion to this chapter in my life and start the next one. There are moments that I wish I could go back to that have now faded into memories, and times that lasted forever and brought a new meaning to suffering. But they are all over and have all profoundly and sometimes not so profoundly been part of my life and forever will be imprinted into my body…until seven years from now when all my cells regenerate.
Occasionally the deal with life is that it will break your heart. People will…but sometimes the universe will too because not everything is fair. And it might not even be happening to you; in fact a lot of the times it’s when we are watching the people we care most about or strangers we have never met that is the most painful. But that is a beautiful thing, because it means that you feel, care and have the ability to feel empathy.
I would recommend opening your eyes as wide as possible at all times so that life can keep surprising you. Because there is no way to look at everything at all times, but there is time to look at everything if you are willing to work and wait for it.
Lately I’ve been somewhat stuck, trapped in the questions of college, identity and the massive future that is already happening. So much in our life is out of control which is equally comforting and terrifying. Because anything could happen.
Like any good story, this one starts with a call to an Uber. I should end the story right there and let you do the math. However, this Uber story doesn’t involve alcohol, drama or a dateline story that ends in my death from climbing into a car with a stranger. As I recently turned twenty-one and have started the lengthy process of growing up and becoming an adult, I made a trip to the DMV to get my new license. This is where Alfie comes in as he was my driver that Uber gave me. I decided to turn the tables on my driver and had a great conversation for seven minutes while also making a new friend. What more could you ask for?
I met Amber through a mutual friend in Boulder and got to know her over a night of playing scrabble, drinking beer and eating burgers at Mountain Sun. My initial impression of her was that she was one of the most poised and eloquent people I had ever met that equally embodied grace and kindness. A week later we were both invited to celebrate our mutual friends families birthday at the Gold Hill restaurant in Gold Hill, Colorado. We ended up sitting next to each other at the massive dinning table in the log cabin and before digging into our food and listening to live music, we talked life.
A year ago I didn’t know who Keane was. We had both been members of the Resident Hall Association and were familiar with each other through the weekly meetings and gatherings in Williams Village, but genuinely didn’t know each other. The last month of school something sparked between us and we became best friends faster than you can say hashtag Be Boulder. We bonded over our quirky love for Hilary Duff, laying out in the sun on the field in Williams Village and complaining about people who complain about life. Over the summer our friendship continued to grow as we stayed in touch despite both of our busy schedules. We mostly bonded over the fact that our families were smothering us. True story. As we came back to Boulder this semester, we have remained steady friends with regular lunches and occasional weekend shennanigans.
Goob. I mean, Gabe. I met Gabe the fall of my first year at college through the Resident Hall Association and Williams Village Program board. Aka the two places where all the nerds and people who feel like they need to do something with their college experience other than study and party go to gather. His presence alone is a massive ball of contagious, positive energy that echoes off everyone around him. It’s easy to be happy around Gabe and his sincere goofiness. He doesn’t take life too seriously while also being completely serious that he is having the time of his life at all moments. It’s a beautiful energy to be around.
Kaila in the World 